NVIDIA Working on GeForce GTX TITAN Ultra and GTX TITAN LE

[btarunr]

A little later this week, AMD will launch its Radeon HD 7990 "Malta" graphics card. All eyes are on AMD, with regards to how the company decides to price the card, regardless of how it ends up performing. If it ends up destabilizing NVIDIA's $999 comfort-zone enjoyed by GeForce GTX TITAN and GTX 690, the company could be forced to either lower pricing, or introduce new SKUs based on the GK110 silicon, especially with the crucial summer shopping season around the corner.

According to a 3DCenter.org report, NVIDIA could launch not one, but two new SKUs based on the GK110 chip, the GTX TITAN "Ultra", and the GTX TITAN "LE." GTX TITAN LE has turned the rumor mills for some time now. It's being rumored to be a slightly scaled down version of the GTX TITAN, with 2496 CUDA cores, 208 TMUs, 40 ROPs, and a narrower 320-bit wide memory interface, holding 5120 MB of memory. There could be a third GK110 SKU in the works, the GTX TITAN Ultra.



The GTX TITAN Ultra, according to the report, is a minor upscale of the original GTX TITAN. The GTX TITAN doesn't fully utilize the component loadout of the GK110 silicon, leaving an inactive streaming multiprocessor cluster (SMX). The GTX TITAN Ultra could see NVIDIA enabling all components on the GK110, with 2880 CUDA cores and 240 TMUs. NVIDIA could restructure its high-end product stack pricing to accommodate the two new SKUs. GeForce GTX 690 could gradually phase out; GTX TITAN LE could occupy a price-point within the US $599-699 range; GTX TITAN between $940-980, and GTX TITAN Ultra at $1000 or over.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Titan LE should be 599. Original Titan should be 799, and new Titan Ultra 999.

 

[Nordic]

Ultra awesome! Still over my price range.

 

[erocker]

So it looks like they are evolving an entire line out of Titan. Does this mean the days of replacing current lines of cards are over? When does it get to the point where the "7 series" comes out and relaces all of this with higher performance at competetive price points? I can understand the original Titan as a specialty card (i.e. 8800 Ultra) but I don't like where this is going. Then again, I guess I'm just not the type of consumer these cards are aimed at.

 

[entropy13]

So it looks like they are evolving an entire line out of Titan. Does this mean the days of replacing current lines of cards are over?

Of course not. I doubt making a Titan derivative to "replace" a GTX 650 would be better than making a new silicon for the midrange segment. The only advantage the Titan derivative would have is that it's "already there", yet it would still end up being costlier because you have an expensive starting point to begin with, but you disable at least half (or more) of the starting GPU.

When does it get to the point where the "7 series" comes out and relaces (sic) all of this with higher performance at competetive (sic) price points? I can understand the original Titan as a specialty card (i.e. 8800 Ultra) but I don't like where this is going.

Would that really happen? Anyway, if you do believe that Titan derivatives will be the real successors of the GTX 600 series instead of the GTX 700 series, then there is the implication in that reasoning that 'competitive pricepoints' are actually no longer the 'midrange' or 'mid-high' segments.

 

[RCoon]

No Titan Ti or XT or GS or GT or several other pointless things they can make out of that chip. This will only irritate enthusiasts who bought a Titan or three, seeing it as the greatest of this gen, and now there's a slightly better one with more power for a slightly higher price.
Total bad move by NVidia here.

 

[the54thvoid]

Hmm, I've read other threads on this and I know the LE rumour is quite possible but a Titan Ultra? Not so sure.

If I'm being honest, if true - it's an incredibly poor call from Nvidia. To market Titan as the most awesome card ever and supercede it with a card a tad better from the same line of chips in a short space of time is commercially naive.

To do that creates caution. I bought Titan under the assumption there would be no better single gpu card for the bulk of the year. Even on the assumption, maybe not until well in to 2014. That's why I was happy enough to pay for the performance it gives.

But when you top your top of range card with another one very quickly, that creates buyer resentment and caution. You stop trusting that what you are buying is going to be the best you can and you question if the price will drop in that event.

If Nvidia considered doing this with Titan, I'd reconsider buying Nvidia again for quite some time - and i gave Nvidia a fair bit of cash recently

 

[HumanSmoke]

So it looks like they are evolving an entire line out of Titan. Does this mean the days of replacing current lines of cards are over?

I'd doubt it.
Firstly, the 3DCenter article is supposition- a "what could happen" scenario- not necessarily "what will happen", and secondly, what would you think Nvidia would do with the parts that can't be specced for Quadro/Tesla for reliability/power? Toss them in the dumpster ?

 

[ViperXTR]

GeForce GTFO TITAN ULTRA EXTREME FTW Edition 6GB GDDR5 512bit

 

[erocker]

what would you think Nvidia would do with the parts that can't be specced for Quadro/Tesla for reliability/power? Toss them in the dumpster ?

To be honest, I'm not quite sure what would make a "Titan Ultra" that couldn't be a Quadro/Tesla. I thought that's what the "cut-down" versions were for.

As you say though, this is all speculative.

 

[RejZoR]

Ppl have less to spend but NVIDIA keeps on ramping up already ridiculously priced super high end cards. Idiotiq much? They're entire ranges of cards are overpriced compared to AMD and they just keep on doing the same thing all over. Seriously NVIDIA, wtf!?

 

[NC37]

Ppl have less to spend but NVIDIA keeps on ramping up already ridiculously priced super high end cards. Idiotiq much? They're entire ranges of cards are overpriced compared to AMD and they just keep on doing the same thing all over. Seriously NVIDIA, wtf!?

They have both been overpriced for a couple gens now. nVidia has however, historically been the king of overpricing. Part of the reason they have no designs in the next gen consoles.

 

[Frick]

They have both been overpriced for a couple gens now. nVidia has however, historically been the king of overpricing. Part of the reason they have no designs in the next gen consoles.

Not really overpriced no. More like back to normal is what it is. The time around the HD4xxx cards was an exception.

@RejZoR: Except for the 650Ti, Ti Boost, 660, 660 Ti and 670 you mean?

 

[20mmrain]

According to my contact at EVGA that I have to deal with because of my business.... these will release between late May/June.... and they won't have blower fans. They will in fact have duel fans on top. These cards were originally supposed to be refereed to the GTX 780 and GTX 770.

With that knowledge... yes nvidia is price gouging.... these cards should have originally released @ the 500 and 400 price point.

 

[qubit]

It was obvious that nvidia were going to bring out the uncrippled version of the chip and charge an even fatter premium for it.

 

[SIGSEGV]

It was obvious that nvidia were going to bring out the uncrippled version of the chip and charge an even fatter premium for it.

+1
lol, so true

 

[BigMack70]

Too bad none of these cards are any good for BTC mining... I could live with how stupidly overpriced they are if they were.

I'll stick with my "free" 7970s

 

[nikko]

8800GT nov/2007 249$ jul/2008 140$ mar/2009 110$
GTX280 jun/2008 699$ jan/2009 330$
GTX285 jan/2009 400$
GTX460 jul/2010 229$
GTX560ti jan/2010 250$

Based on all that it is possible that next year there will be 20nm 500$ card shrink ~ 330mm2 of the titan and better. And 2 years from now - 16nm 250$ titan/volta shrink ~ 220mm2 with 2880 alu + 400GB/s memory cube DRAM.

 

[buggalugs]

Wow I would be pissed if I bought titan, then they announce titan ultra shortly after.

All these cards must have been in the works, developed at the same time, so NVidia deliberately kept quiet about it. Bad form.

Could you image how much Nvidia would charge for graphics if there was no AMD?

 

[blibba]

Ppl have less to spend but NVIDIA keeps on ramping up already ridiculously priced super high end cards. Idiotiq much? They're entire ranges of cards are overpriced compared to AMD and they just keep on doing the same thing all over. Seriously NVIDIA, wtf!?

Average joe has less to spend, but Nvidia hopes average joe will pick the 650Ti and the like for their drivers and features.

In the high end, rich people haven't gotten any poorer - if anything, the opposite is true. So Nvidia is producing luxury products just like you see in the automobile market, furniture market and goodness knows what else. Yes, they could afford to sell these products for less (though they might run out if they did), but they're just profit maximising, and it's hard to hold that against them given the system they're playing in.

 

[ensabrenoir]

Different rules for different zipcodes

No Titan Ti or XT or GS or GT or several other pointless things they can make out of that chip. This will only irritate enthusiasts who bought a Titan or three, seeing it as the greatest of this gen, and now there's a slightly better one with more power for a slightly higher price.
Total bad move by NVidia here.

...... that's the double edged sword to being an enthusiast.... there will always come something faster....one has to either settle.....or sell and move on to the next. There are many who will buy last gen high end tech so the cost of the new wont be as much it appears...all part of the food chain. buy a titan for $999 sell it for $650 to $700 add another $300 buy latest. After first initial purchase price each upgrade cost around $300... not too bad

 

[d1nky]

I feel bad for the guys who waited for titan thinking itll be exclusive and exclusive in price!!

it would been fantastic as a ''one off'', just imagine they brought an ares range out, people would be sore!

 

[MicroUnC]

Consumer fetishism :shadedshu

 

[blibba]

I feel bad for the guys who waited for titan thinking itll be exclusive and exclusive in price!!

it would been fantastic as a ''one off'', just imagine they brought an ares range out, people would be sore!

Surely Titan GX2 is only a matter of time

 

[qubit]

Surely Titan GX2 is only a matter of time

I'd love to have a card with that name.